Coming Home
by LillyWhiteGW
Summary: Gibbs and the team get a new case that brings up bad memories. An assasin is killing officers that look like Kate. They bring in a CIA agent to help, and get a shocking suprise.
1. The Case

Hey everyone! This is my first fanfiction, and I am a diehard Kibbs shipper. This is slightly AU, in the fact that Ziva did leave, but she didn't go under bad terms. Forget all of the stuff with Michael, she just simply went back to Israel because her father wanted her to.

Chapter One

"DiNozzo!"

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo's head snapped up at the gruff command.

"Yes, boss?"

NCIS team leader Jethro Gibbs came quickly around the entrance to the bullpen with coffee cup in hand. The fierce scowl that Gibbs sported sent warning bells off in Tony's head. Something was up, and by the looks of it, that something wasn't good.

Gibbs was known for his incredibly callous and gruff demeanor, which had steadily gotten worse since Director Shepherd's death and Ziva's absence. The bullpen was almost always eerily quiet, with Tony's obnoxious quips no longer there to fill the silence and McGee's normal stammering prattle receding back into his shy quietness. Even Abby, whenever Tony visited her down in her lab, seemed more subdued, like all of the bad fortune the team had endured had finally cracked her incredible spirit. Tony really didn't know what to make of the serious changes in all of their behaviors, but he really couldn't summon the energy to do much about it. It was times like these that his mind slowly drifted back to Kate. As much as he loved and missed Ziva, Kate had always been the team's glue. She could put a smile on Gibbs face, make McGee blush and Abby giggle with a snappy quip and a fiery glare. She could put him in his place with just a look. She had been his little sister, his sounding board, his best friend. God he missed her.

"DiNozzo! Have you heard what I've been saying for the past five minutes?" Gibbs shouted across the room, standing in front of the plasma with pictures of multiple dead bodies plastered on the screen.

Tony shook his head and cleared the unwanted memories from his mind. He had a job to do, and today really didn't seem like the day to push Gibbs.

"Sorry boss," Tony said, standing up and quickly making his way over to the screen.

McGee lifted his head from his paperwork to pay attention to the debrief in front of him. Even he noticed something up with Gibbs. Not so much what he was saying, because yelling at Tony was a common occurrence, but it was more the tone of his voice, the weight of sadness and pain in his eyes that caught his attention. The fact that the reprimands he flung at Tony didn't have the bite and sting they usually did. It had been a year since Jenny's death, and Gibbs had seemed to be making a recovery alright, but it felt like today Gibbs was starting right back at square one, looking even worse than he did the day he found out Director Shepherd had died. The quiet sullenness of his boss struck something familiar in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite place it.

Gibbs stared at Tony for a moment, looking a bit tired and weary. "It's fine DiNozzo, but I need you 100 percent for this next case," Gibbs said, looking straight at Tony.

Tony was shocked. He took a step back from his boss. Something was _definitely_ not right. Gibbs was being patient with him? He exchanged glances with McGee. The younger agent slightly shrugged his shoulders, indicating to Tony that he had no idea what was going on either.

That's when it hit. Even after Jenny had died, Gibbs' personality had shifted for less than a week, and then he was back, in full force, kicking ass and taking numbers as usual. He was a little more subdued, like he was too old to handle the weight of his job anymore, but he had never acted like this. Gibbs normally never turned to the soft, caring older boss, except for once on the same day every year. Never for more than a day, except for the time five years ago, when the 'nice Gibbs' attitude had started, scaring the shit out of Tony, Abby and McGee. But what didn't make any sense was that today wasn't that special day. Tony knew that day by heart, it even still haunted some of his nightmares, and today wasn't that day. He would need to go down to see Abby later to get more info. If anyone would know what was going on with their boss, she would. If that route failed, he'd go to Ducky.

"So what's up Boss?"

"There have been five successive murders of female naval officers," Gibbs said, squinting at the high-tech remote and trying to find the right button. He did, and pictures of the dead officers illuminated the bullpen. "Their bodies have been found in various places and states, ranging from back alleys of restraints in D.C. to a small park in Indiana."

Tony's eyes widened at the pictures of the mutilated bodies. From appearances alone, there was no way that you could tell who the women were. Just as Tony thought that, Gibbs pushed another button, and with a sharp intake of breath, pictures of the women, when they were alive and healthy, came up on the screen.

DiNozzo heard McGee gasp, and his chair violently squeaked when the younger agent rushed over to the screen.

"Boss…" McGee whispered, never taking his eyes off the screen.

Tony had difficulty swallowing, but he managed to. Gibbs spoke softly, almost imperceptibly quiet. "For reasons that I don't understand, the FBI is in on this case, too, and they specifically asked for our team's assistance. They are the ones that identified our victims."

Tony glanced at his boss, and noticed that Gibbs wasn't looking at the screen anymore, almost as if it hurt his eyes to see the faces of the dead women. If this had been any other case, Tony would have been alarmed at his boss's reaction. If these women had been different, Tony would have been confused. But it wasn't another case and these women weren't different, so he understood the reaction that Gibbs had had.

"Boss," Tony said, equally as soft. He finally tore his eyes away from the screen to look at Gibbs. He saw him shut his eyes tightly, as if to ward off the incoming onslaught of pain. Which in truth, wasn't too far off the mark. "Boss…these women…God…Gibbs…they look just like Kate."


	2. Looking at the Puzzle Pieces

Since I'm new to this, I really don't know how fast these should be updated, so if anyone could help me out with that, that would be great. Thanks for reading! 

Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, but if I did I would be rich. And one very happy woman. ;)

Chapter Two

_I hope we nail this bastard fast, _Gibbs thought, sitting at his desk rubbing his temples, trying to thwart the migraine from attacking, the pain steadily building behind his eyes.

He glanced back down at the case file, the pictures of the lifeless women staring up at him. Even though the photos were bloody and the bodies were ripped to shreds, you could make out the single gun shot to the head and the women's dark hair spread out like a haunting halo in a mass of blood. Suddenly, Kate's lifeless eyes were glaring back at him from the photos. He blinked and quickly pushed himself back from his desk.

"I'm going for coffee," he said quietly to Tony as he left the bullpen and headed for the elevator. He turned his head over his shoulder and asked, "Do you want anything, Tony? McGee?"

Tony looked up at him from his report. Not shocked at all by his boss's behavior. Gibbs had been like this for the past three days, ever since Tony had found out about their new case. It had gotten steadily worse with each avenue they investigated that came up empty. They were going nowhere fast on this case and it was taking its toll on all of them. "Nah, I'm good," Tony replied softly. With a last glance at Gibbs, he went back to finishing his last case report.

"N-no thanks boss," McGee replied, his stammer returning. Unlike Tony, Gibbs' unusual behavior was really getting to him. Between that and the case, McGee was more confused and bewildered than normal. He really didn't want to revisit Kate's death, but here it was, thrown in all of their faces.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few," Gibbs said as he pushed the elevator button. "When Tobias gets here just tell him to wait. He's coming in to debrief us on what the FBI knows about the case. From what I've heard, I guess this has some CIA connection. It's going to be a long night guys. I'll be back soon." Gibbs finished just as the elevator doors dinged open.

Tony watched as Gibbs left the bullpen. Shaking his head, he headed down to the lab to find out what Abby had for them.

The elevator doors slid open and he strolled into the lab, screeching music flooded in from her computer. Abby was sitting in front of one of the many screens with her chin in her hand. When Tony got closer, he noticed that her eyes were red and puffy and tear tracks stained her cheeks. He reached over and turned the noise off, touching her shoulder gently.

"Abby…" Tony breathed, almost chocking on her name. Abby swirled around and lunged at him.

"I thought it was over Tony, I thought I was over this," Abby whispered into his neck as a fresh wave of tears hit her. She buried her face into his shirt. Tony stroked her back with one hand and held her head tight to his chest with other. "When will cases like these stop reminding us of her. It's been almost five years Tony. When?" On the last word Abby's voice broke, making Tony hold her tighter.

"It's okay Abs," he whispered into her hair, kissing her gently on the top of her head. "This isn't a normal case. It's hitting us hard because it has so many similarities. You're going to be fine. We're all going to be fine." Tony whispered the last part to himself, hoping to convince himself in the process of comforting Abby. This case was rough, and while he missed Kate, he really wished Ziva was there to talk to him, to make some inappropriate comment that would make him feel better. But she wasn't.

Tony sighed and gently pulled away from Abby, smoothing back her hair and drying her tears with his thumb. "What do you have for me Abs?" He asked gently.

Abby sniffed, taking a second to get herself under control. She quickly turned back to the computer, speed typing code into it. The pictures of each victim and the accompanying crime scene photos popped up on the monitors. Both Tony and Abby visibly flinched, but Abby didn't let it stop her.

"Okay," she said quietly, but she picked up energy as she went along, snapping back into the Abby that he knew, quirky and energetic. "There are small slips of paper tucked into the hands of each of the victims. See?" Abby typed a command into the computer and the picture zoomed to the first victim's hand. Tony could see the note that Abby was talking about. She went through each of the images, pointing out the odd occurrence in each of the photos.

Tony scrunched up his face in obvious confusion. "Why didn't we get those notes with all of the evidence that was shipped in. Ducky just got the bodies today, all of the crime scene evidence should have come with it. There weren't anything like notes among what was collected," Tony stated, frustrated.

"That would be because the FBI didn't release those to you, Agent DiNozzo," a voice said from behind Abby and Tony, startling them both. FBI Agent Fornell made his way across the lab, nodding once to both Abby and Tony. Neither Abby nor Tony had heard him enter the lab.

"What do you mean, the FBI didn't release them to us?" Tony said, annoyed. "How are we supposed to solve the case without all of the evidence?" Tony's frustration hit its peak.

Leave it up to the FBI to not only leave them in the dark and confused out of their minds, but to take as long as possible before they decided to share. This case was causing way too many problems for his team, especially Gibbs, and Tony didn't appreciate the cavalier way that Fornell seemed to be taking it.

"I would suggest that you have the notes and any other missing evidence shipped over immediately," Tony said with a snarl that would do Gibbs proud.

"Calm down Tony," Gibbs said quietly from behind both Fornell and Tony, as he swiftly made his way from the elevator. Abby looked up from the ping-pong match between DiNozzo and Fornell to swiftly attack Gibbs in a hug, much like she did with Tony.

"Hi Gibbs," she breathed into his neck. Gibbs closed his eyes and gently patted Abby on the back. He silently withdrew, giving her a small smile than didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Here you go Abs," he said, handing her the Caf-Pow. He patted her cheek and he was rewarded by a brief, but sincere grin.

Gibbs turned to Fornell and Tony, his gentleness with Abby and Tony dissipated in a matter of nanoseconds when his eyes fell on Fornell.

"Tobias what the hell is going on?" His soft, menacing tone cut through the room like a knife. "This is an NCIS case. Naval officers died, Naval criminal team investigates. What the hell does the FBI have to do with this?"

Fornell sighed heavily, knowing what was to come wouldn't be easy. Jethro was a difficult man, and he could tell this case was weighing heavily on his mind. The sticky situation was that the FBI barely knew what was going on, much less being able to explain the case in detail to Jethro's liking.

"Actually," Fornell said, taking a deep breath, "there will be CIA liaison conferencing with us in about…" he checked his watch, "ten minutes."

Fornell glanced at Jethro, to see if an explosion was in the works. Surprisingly, Gibbs just nodded, taking a sip of his extra-large coffee.

"Apparently, this case involves a spook stationed somewhere in Europe," Fornell said, his thumb and forefinger pressing against his eyes. "I'm guessing Italy by the notes that we collected from the crime scenes, but we'll get to those later."

This time, Fornell did more than just glance at Gibbs, he stared him down. "Now listen, Jethro, the FBI is almost as in the dark about this as you guys are. All I really know about the CIA involvement is that these deaths could lead to a whole world of trouble for some undercover operation that the spooks are keeping pretty hush-hush."

Fornell took a deep breath, and met Gibbs' eyes straight on, hoping to convey the true extent of the situation. "As far as what I've been able to ascertain from my CIA informants," Fornell said, "is that this case goes beyond a Navy serial killing. It's got ties to a terrorist organization being headed up in Italy, and somehow one of their undercover operatives was made and targeted."

Gibbs sighed, and took another sip of his coffee. Control of this case was slowly slipping out of his fingers. There were so many missing puzzle pieces, so many variables that were going unsolved. He needed answers and he needed them now. His gut was telling him to tread carefully with this one. And he didn't like that. Not at all.


End file.
